In vivo murine studies on the biochemical mechanism of naphthalene cataractogenesis

The polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon naphthalene is bioactivated by cytochromes P450 to an electrophilic epoxide intermediate, which subsequently is metabolized to naphthoquinones (NQ) and possibly to a free radical intermediate. These reactive intermediates may bind covalently to lenticular tissues, cause oxidant stress and/or lipid peroxidation, thereby initiating cataracts. To evaluate this hypothesis, male C57BL/6 or DBA/2 mice were treated with naphthalene or one of several naphthoquinone and naphthol metabolites, in the presence or absence of modulators of chemical bioactivation and detoxification. In C57BL/6 mice, cataracts were caused by naphthalene (500-2000 mg/kg ip) in a dose-dependent fashion. The incidence of naphthalene-induced cataracts was decreased by pretreatment with the P450 inhibitors SKF 525A and metyrapone, the antioxidants caffeic acid and vitamin E, the glutathione (GSH) precursor N-acetylcysteine, and the free radical spin trapping agent alpha-phenyl-N-t-butylnitrone (p less than 0.05). Naphthalene cataractogenicity was enhanced by pretreatment with the cytochrome P450 inducer phenobarbital and the GSH depletor diethyl maleate (DEM) (p less than 0.05), and was unaffected by pretreatment with the prostaglandin synthetase inhibitors aspirin or naproxen, or the epoxide hydrolase inhibitor trichloropropene oxide. Cataracts were initiated by 1,2-NQ and 1,4-NQ (5-250 mg/kg ip) in a dose-dependent fashion, with a molar potency about 10-fold higher than that for naphthalene. NQ cataractogenicity was enhanced by pretreatment with DEM (p less than 0.05). 1-Naphthol (56 to 562 mg/kg ip) demonstrated a cataractogenic potency intermediary to that for naphthalene and NQ. DBA/2 mice treated with naphthalene (2000 mg/kg ip), 1,4-NQ (65-250 mg/kg ip), 1,2-NQ (30-250 mg/kg ip), or DEM followed by 1,4-NQ (125 mg/kg ip) did not develop cataracts. These results suggest that naphthalene cataractogenesis in C57BL/6 mice requires P450-catalyzed bioactivation to a reactive intermediate, which may be the NQ and/or a free radical derivative, either of which is dependent upon GSH for detoxification.